504 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 52 



Study of the spectrum of Mars, and the writer is under obligations 

 to them for their kindness and good fellowship. 



. "Mount Wilson, Cal.. Sept. 14, 1909. 

 "Dear Sir : I left Pasadena about 9.30 p. m., August 19, and took 

 the 11.30 p. m. train at Los Angeles for Mojave. I slept occasion- 

 ally but with great fear lest I should be carried by Mojave, and at 

 length reached there, a little late, at 4.30 a. m. The train for Little 

 Lake, mostly a freight train, left at 7 a. m., and, after stopping all 

 along the way to shift and unload freight cars, reached Little Lake, 

 35^ hours late, at 6 p. m. I got supper there and started by auto- 

 stage at 6.15. Having 3 boxes of delicate apparatus, one of which 

 I felt it necessary to carry in. my arms, the ride of 50 miles from 

 Mojave to Little Lake was not altogether pleasant. Two automo- 

 biles started together, but the one I was in stopped near Olancha 

 and nearly two hours of work failed to start it, so that all the passen- 

 gers crowded into the other. We reached Lone Pine at 11.30 p. m. 

 At 8.30 a. m., August 21, with Mr. Wm. Skinner, of Lone Pine, 

 as guide, and with a driver and animals to carry my baggage, I 

 started for Mount Whitney. We camped about 4 p. m. with Mr. 

 Robinson and his packers at Big Meadow ; elevation about 10.500 

 feet.' I found that nearly all the material for the house had gone 

 up to the top, and my boxes were at Robinson's camp. Mr. Skinner 

 and I left camp at 6 a. m. and arrived on the summit of Mount 

 Whitney about 11 a. m., August 22. We found Mr. Marsh with 

 four workmen. The walls of the building were done except gables 

 and partitions, and the frame of the roof was up. The masons were 

 laying the walls of the little stone hut for my work, and they finished 

 it, including the roof, that day. Several 6x6 tents had been loaned 

 by Professor Campbell, and in these we cooked, ate, and slept. Ham, 

 bacon, Mulligan stew, and flap-jacks were the staple foods. I rather 

 ran down during the week before Mr. Campbell came, and got into 

 bed by Friday afternoon. Fortunately Mr. Campbell brought a doc- 

 tor, who cured me in a couple of days. I found that a few days 

 before my coming there had been a thunder-storm on the mountain 

 one night. One of the men had gone out of the tent and had been 

 nearly killed by lightning or fright. There is a monument close by 

 where a man was killed by lightning in 1904. All the mountain was 

 glowing with St. Elmo's fire, and they all had been pretty uneasy. 

 On the following night all the workmen left Mr. Marsh and ran 

 down the trail when another storm began. However, they returned 

 to him in a couple of days, thanks to his grit in staying on top all 

 alone. I found also that a number of people in Lone Pine had been 

 working against the project, and that Mr. Marsh had had great 

 difficulty to repair the trail. There was much snow and ice, and 

 he and others were completely snow-blinded for a day or so. The 

 packers had been slow in beginning, and had deserted the job once 

 or twice, so that he had to leave the top once and go down to Lone 

 Pine and stir up Mr. Robinson. Mr. Marsh told me that once he 



